South Sudan is grappling with its most severe cholera outbreak since gaining independence in 2011, the United Nations warned Monday. Nearly 700 lives, including many children, have been claimed over the past six months.
UNICEF, the U.N.’s children’s fund, reported 40,000 cholera cases between late September and March 18, with the outbreak marking the deadliest in two decades, resulting in 694 deaths nationwide.
"This is the worst outbreak South Sudan as an independent country has ever faced," said Verity Rushton, UNICEF emergency specialist, speaking from the capital, Juba.
Half of the cases were children under 15, UNICEF said, with Rushton adding that "a third of the deaths reported are children under the age of 14."
Despite its major oil deposits, South Sudan remains deeply impoverished and has been plagued by insecurity since declaring independence.
Parts of the country have seen fresh waves of violence, with clashes between forces allied to President Salva Kiir and his long-time rival, First Vice President Riek Machar, displacing tens of thousands.
Of South Sudan’s 10 states, Rushton said, nine have been impacted by cholera, with the majority of cases in Jonglei, in the east.
South Sudan and Angola are facing the most severe outbreaks across eastern and southern Africa, UNICEF said.
Angola reported more than 7,500 cases, including 294 deaths, from Jan. 7 to March 18, the agency added, warning of "high risks for further escalation."
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned Monday that cholera was spreading rapidly as people in South Sudan fled for safety.
The medical charity has treated 400 cholera patients in one county alone in Upper Nile State in the northeast, it said, warning the disease had spread to neighboring Jonglei State, where MSF runs a 100-bed treatment unit.
"With cholera spreading rapidly and violence ongoing, the need for medical care in Upper Nile State is more critical than ever," said Zakaria Mwatia, MSF head of mission in South Sudan.
Earlier this month, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in South Sudan said 50,000 people had been displaced since February as violence flared in Upper Nile State.
OCHA reported that a cholera treatment unit in Nasir County had closed, forcing 23 humanitarian workers to leave.
The region has been the main focus of clashes that threaten a fragile power-sharing agreement between Kiir and Machar.
South Sudan has seen a steady increase in cholera cases over the past three years.
Cholera is an acute form of diarrhea that is treatable with antibiotics and hydration but can be deadly if untreated.
In 2022, the country suffered its first cholera resurgence in five years, following an outbreak between June 2016 and December 2017 that killed 436 people.
